John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 22:18-19

"Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, [saying] Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." — Jeremiah 22:18-19 (ASV)

The Prophet, having inveighed against Jehoiakim, now shows what kind of punishment from God awaited him. He would otherwise have despised the Prophet’s reproof; but when he heard that a reward was prepared for him, he must have been roused. Since then he was seized with a foolish and even a sottish lust for glory, so that he cast aside every care for uprightness, the Prophet declares that disgrace was prepared for him; and for this reason, he compares him after his death to an ass.

Therefore thus says Jehovah to King Jehoiakim, or concerning King Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah the king, etc. He is not called the son of Josiah for the sake of honor, but for the purpose of wounding him deeply, because he had degenerated from the piety of his father. But as he hoped that the religion of Josiah would be a sort of covering for him, the Prophet derides and checks this vain confidence. “You glory in being the son of King Josiah, but your holy father will avail you nothing, for you seem openly to show that you are wholly different from him. Though then you are descended from Josiah, and though God has raised you to the royal throne, yet there is no reason for you to be confident about your safety; for these benefits of God will not preserve you from that ignominious treatment which you deserve.”

He says first, They shall not bewail him, Ah my brother! Ah sister! The Prophet mentions by way of imitation the words of the mourners. Those people, we know, were very vehement in expressing their sorrow. And this ought to be kept in mind, because some, being persuaded that nothing is related by the Prophets but what ought to be taken as an example, therefore think that these modes of lamentation were approved by God. But we have before seen what the Prophet said in Jeremiah 22:4,

“Enter through these gates shall the kings
of Judah and their princes in chariots,”

yet we know that kings had been forbidden to make such ostentatious displays; but God did not scrupulously refer to what was lawful or right in speaking of royal splendor, and so also when He spoke of funeral rites. We ought not therefore to make a law of what the Prophet says, as though it were right and proper to bewail the dead with howling.

There is indeed no doubt that these excesses which the Prophet mentions were not only foolish but also wholly condemnable. For we often vie with one another in our lamentations; and when men intemperately express their grief at funerals, they excite themselves into a sort of madness in crying and bewailing, and then when they compose themselves and simulate grief, they act a part as if in a theater.

But the Prophet here speaks only according to the common practice of the age when he says, “They shall not bewail him,” etc.; that is, he states what was usually done, when one embraced another, when a sister said, “Ah, my brother!” and when a brother said, “Ah, my sister!” or, when the people said, “Ah, lord, O king, where is your glory! Where is your honor! Where is your crown! Where is your scepter! Where is your throne!”

Very foolish then were the lamentations which the Prophet mentions here. But as I have already said, it is enough for us to know that he refers to these rites, then commonly practiced, without expressing his approval of them.

They shall not, he says, bewail King Jehoiakim; they shall not say at his funeral, Ah, my brother! Ah, sister! And, Ah, lord! Ah, his glory! There shall be no such thing. And why? Because he shall be buried with the burial of an ass.

As we have said before, it was justly considered one of God’s curses when a carcass was cast away unburied. For God would have burial be a proof to distinguish us from brute animals even after death, just as we in life excel them, and as our condition is much nobler than that of the brute creation. Burial is also a pledge, as it were, of immortality; for when a man’s body is laid hidden in the earth, it is, so to speak, a mirror of a future life. Since then burial is an evidence of God’s grace and favor towards mankind, it is on the other hand a sign of a curse when burial is denied.

But it has been said elsewhere that temporal punishments ought not always to be viewed alike, for God has sometimes allowed His faithful servants to be unburied, according to what we read in Psalm 79:2-3, that their bodies were cast forth in the fields, that they were exposed to be eaten by the beasts of the earth and by the birds of heaven.

Those spoken of were the true and sincere worshipers of God. But we know that the good and the bad have temporal punishments in common; and this is true regarding famine and nakedness, pestilence and war. The destruction of the city Jerusalem was a just punishment on the wicked; and yet Daniel and Jeremiah were driven into exile together with the wicked, and suffered great hardships. In short, they were so mixed with the ungodly that their external condition was in no way different.

So then, the state of things in the world is often in such disorder that we cannot distinguish between the good and the bad by outward circumstances. But still, it is always right to hold this truth: that when burial is denied to a man, it is a sign of God’s curse.

Therefore, the Prophet now says, He shall be buried with the burial of an ass. He mentions the ass because it is a lowly animal; he might have named a horse or an ox, but as the ass is a more lowly and contemptible animal, it is the same as if he had said, “Jehoiakim shall be cast away with the dogs.” This prophecy no doubt grievously wounded not only the mind of the king himself but also that of the whole people, for at that time his throne still stood, and all highly regarded the family of David, and thought the kingdom sacred, as it was under the guardianship and protection of God.

But the Prophet did not hesitate to denounce what was afterwards confirmed by the event, for Jehoiakim was buried with the burial of an ass, as he was cast out far beyond the gates of Jerusalem. Here the Prophet amplifies the disgrace by which King Jehoiakim would be branded. He might have been left dead on a journey, but the Prophet expresses what is more grievous than being cast out: Drawn out, he says, and cast forth, etc.; that is, Jehoiakim shall not only be cast out but also dragged like an ass or a dog, lest his stench should infect the city, as though he was unworthy not only of a grave but also of being seen by men.

And this is to be especially noted, for from this we conclude how great his perverseness was in despising the threats of God, since the Prophet could not otherwise assail the mind of the king and terrify the people than by exaggerating the indignity that was to happen to him.

For if there had been any teachable spirit in the king and the people, the Prophet would have been content with making a simple statement, “Jehoiakim shall not be buried”; that is, God will punish him even when dead; the curse of God will not only be upon him while living, but He will also take vengeance on him after his death. He was not content with this kind of statement; but he shall be buried, he says, as an ass, and shall be cast far off; and further still, his carcass shall be drawn or dragged, so that it was to be an eternal mark of infamy and disgrace.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as it has pleased You to perpetuate the memory of the dreadful vengeance which You have executed on the descendants of David, so that we may learn by their evils carefully to walk before You — O grant, that the forgetfulness of this example may never possess us, but that we may diligently meditate on what is set before us, in order that we may thus endeavor to advance and promote the glory of Your name through the whole course of our life, so that we may at length be made partakers of Your celestial glory, which You have prepared for us, and which Your only-begotten Son has obtained for us by His own blood. — Amen.